Growing up, one birthday tradition I loved more than most was when my great aunt Hilda (my mom’s aunt) brought us a huge platter of her delicious homemade spiced molasses cookies.

I never got her recipe before she passed away… but then, 2 weeks ago, after a conversation with a distant relative, I stumbled across the recipe and have been enjoying these delicious cookies once again!

Today I’m wishing the happiest of birthdays to my most favorite person!

And in honor of Dave’s birthday (which perfectly coincides with the holiday baking season) I’m sharing a bunch of his most favorite Chocolate + Peanut Butter Desserts. If you’re on a diet, you probably don’t want to read today’s post!

I like to keep ALL holidays as simple as possible, but Thanksgiving is a big one for me — it can be so much work to roast the “perfect turkey” and have all the foods ready at the exact same time (but it doesn’t have to be).

If you’re hosting a big meal this holiday season, let me share one tip that has completely revolutionized the way I prepare big holiday meals, and drastically helped to simplify my most favorite holiday! I’m also linking to TONS of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes!

If you’ve never tried squash before, NOW IS THE TIME! They are fresh, in-season, and most likely selling at rock-bottom prices at your local grocery store or farmer’s market.

I hope today’s impossibly simple slow cooker method of cooking squash will give you the motivation you need to serve squash as a side dish for one of your meals this week! It’s SO tasty, super nutritious, and even Clara loves it!

If you’ve ever read the Weekly Menu section of my Peek Into Our Week posts, you’ll notice that we eat A LOT of applesauce! Every year, I can roughly 50 quarts of delicious homemade applesauce and we enjoy it as a simple side dish with most of our meals.

However, on special occasions, I often whip up a fresh batch of chunky cinnamon applesauce — with the delicious addition of Red Hot candies! I’m sharing that recipe today!

Since there are only a few days left until Thanksgiving — and since I’ve gotten several emails asking for my favorite (simple) Thanksgiving recipes, I thought I’d compile them all into one post so you can easily find what you’re looking for!

I’m also sharing 50+ ideas for Thanksgiving leftovers, a few tips for those of you hosting holiday parties this year, and even a few Thanksgiving fun facts 🙂

One of the things I love most about scalloped potatoes is that it’s a delicious MAKE-AHEAD side dish that can instantly be transformed into a MAKE-AHEAD main dish with the addition of some chopped ham!

If you’re looking for a hearty winter meal (or yummy potato side dish) this is the recipe for you!

If you’re looking for an extremely simple, super delicious treat to bring to a holiday party, or just something fun to do with your children or grandchildren over Christmas break, I don’t think you can go wrong with these yummy pretzel candy bites!

The gooey caramel + crunchy pretzel + sweet chocolate + salty pretzel is one of the best combos I’ve had in a bite-sized snack in a long time!

Today’s recipe is another one of those ridiculously simple “non recipes” that I almost feel silly posting here on my blog.

If you love a good slow-cooker pork or chicken recipe, and have a little extra cranberry sauce to use up after the holidays, you’ll definitely want to give this Cranberry Pork (or Chicken) recipe a try!